It’s Wilder. I have this sixth sense when it comes to him.
Sure enough, his name is on the screen.
“Hello?” I say as I take a sip of coffee and nearly burn my tongue.
“Where are you?” Wilder asks, his voice teetering on the edge of a full-blown hysteria. “I got out of the shower, and you weren’t here.”
“I just walked down to the coffee shop,” I tell him. “The world’s grumpiest barista works there.”
“You can’t just leave without telling anyone where you’re going, Ingrid,” he chastises me.
I stop walking. “Pretty sure I’m a grown-ass woman, Wilder Andrea Cox.”
He lets out a strangled groan. “You know it’s Andrew.”
“I am my own,” I remind him, completely ignoring the correct spelling of his middle name. “I come and go as I please.”
“Yes,” he agrees. “But not when we’re in a new town.”
My head whips back involuntarily. “You don’t get to tell me—”
“I need you to tell me if you leave the room,” he says quietly. “After yesterday, I need you to tell me.”
Oh.
Did he think I left? Like permanently?
“I didn’t realize…” I trail off.
“I’ll see you when you get back,” he says.
“Okay.”
Then, I hear a click.
Taking a deep breath, I finish the walk back to the hotel feeling drained. I didn’t think a short walk would make him wonder if I was done with us.
I know he didn’t say that—not in so many words—but it felt that way. He’s never worried about where I am or freaked out that I left to go get a coffee.
Maybe I should have told him. Especially after yesterday.
Cash never cared if I left. Then again, he knew I would always come back. I was predictable to him. He knew I’d do anything for him.
So, why doesn’t Wilder feel the same way?
Why is he suddenly so afraid I’ll abandon ship?
The boys are waiting by my car when I reach the hotel.
“Cash wants to stay here another night,” Wilder says. “It’s about an hour and a half drive to the Grand Canyon from here. We can spend the day there, then come back here.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” I tell him.
“I’ll drive,” Cash says and quickly gets into the car.
Wilder hangs back.
“Can we talk for a minute?” he asks me.
